IN Brief:
- An ERM cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment underpins Futamura’s reported 24% average reduction for selected NatureFlex grades from 2019 to 2025.
- Existing compressed-air and heat-recovery changes are credited with more than 400 tonnes of annual CO₂e savings.
- A separate £15m wet sulphuric acid project is planned for 2027–28 and is forecast to supply about 15% of site energy.
Futamura reports an average 24% reduction in the assessed cradle-to-gate carbon footprint of selected NatureFlex cellulose film grades produced between 2019 and 2025. The figures reflect improvements in production and the assessed supply inputs for those film grades. Futamura also describes a separate energy project planned at its Cumbria factory, with estimated gains that would follow the historical period.
The latest assessment was carried out by ERM using life cycle assessment methods and the IPCC’s AR6 100-year global-warming-potential factors to express different greenhouse gases as carbon dioxide equivalent. The boundary includes material inputs and manufacturing operations and ends at the factory gate. Distribution, packaging conversion, consumer use and disposal sit outside it. Futamura’s figures therefore describe a manufacturing-stage comparison rather than the environmental performance of an entire packed food product.
Futamura estimates that the improvements represent about 100,000 tonnes of cumulative avoided carbon dioxide equivalent when assessed against the relevant 2019 and 2025 production footprints. The company also compares that figure with roughly 70,000 UK cars’ annual emissions. Both are explanatory estimates based on the study’s assumptions. The 24% figure is an average across the film grades evaluated; the value applicable to an individual customer grade will depend on the specification and accounting method used.
Changes to compressed-air generation are one contributor. Futamura has replaced its compressor system and installed heat recovery to preheat thermotanks, reducing some of the steam demand elsewhere in production. Compressed air is an important factory utility, but leakage, excessive pressure and inefficient running schedules can raise electrical consumption. Futamura attributes more than 400 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in annual savings to the combined compressor and heat-recovery improvements already operating.
Other reported changes include adjusted air-conditioning controls, LED lighting across approximately 80% of the company’s premises and closer monitoring of laboratory energy use. Revised oven schedules and weekend shutdown procedures address energy consumed when processes are not producing saleable film. These are operational measures rather than changes to cellulose chemistry, and their effect depends on maintaining the required process and quality conditions while reducing utility demand.
NatureFlex films use cellulose derived from wood pulp, with grades supplied for confectionery, produce, pouches and lidding applications. Film composition, coatings and barrier properties differ between uses. A manufacturer’s greenhouse-gas comparison must therefore distinguish the precise film grade and amount used from broad descriptions such as renewable or compostable. Food protection remains part of the functional specification: oxygen and moisture transmission, sealing and mechanical performance determine whether a film can meet the packaged product’s shelf-life requirements.
That product specification also determines the correct basis for comparison with another packaging material. The mass of film in a package can change with gauge, density and seal construction, while a reduction in barrier performance can influence food waste. Evaluating two alternatives by kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilogram of film is useful only as one part of a comparison that accounts for the amount required and the function delivered. Collection and end-of-life treatment need a further, separately bounded assessment.
Futamura’s next major energy project is a £15 million wet sulphuric acid installation at Wigton in Cumbria, supported by up to £4.5 million from the government’s Industrial Energy Transformation Fund. The project was announced before the October footprint reporting. Its process is designed to oxidise sulphur-bearing waste gases and recover the reaction heat for steam generation, reducing demand for external fuel while treating process emissions. Steam generated through the recovered heat could be used by processes that currently require energy from other sources.
The company is targeting implementation in 2027–28 and estimates that the new system could provide approximately 15% of the site’s energy requirements once running. Its life cycle material also presents a projected further reduction of around 10% by 2027–28 based on future manufacturing improvements. Those are planning forecasts that will be testable against commissioned equipment and measured operating energy use. They use a different evidence base from the historical footprint data.
Futamura also publishes a longer-running environmental series that shows almost a 50% carbon-footprint reduction since 2007, calculated from an older starting point and in some instances a different film grade. That historical baseline serves a separate comparison from the 24% change between 2019 and 2025. The company has additionally reported about a 20% site-wide cut in water demand associated with earlier water-treatment changes, a distinct environmental indicator with its own measurement period.
A purchasing team evaluating NatureFlex can request the grade-specific greenhouse-gas figure, functional unit, assessment period and cradle-to-gate boundaries, together with the film gauge, coating and oxygen and moisture barrier needed for the particular food. Comparable alternatives should be assessed using the same functional performance and system boundary. Subsequent data from the Wigton heat-recovery project can then be assessed on its own commissioning date and measured energy contribution.
